Earlier this week Pope Francis released a letter to the people and asked for all the faithful to pray and fast in penance for the atrocities of the recent sex abuse scandal.  

“I invite the entire holy faithful People of God to a penitential exercise of prayer and fasting, following the Lord’s command.[1]  This can awaken our conscience and arouse our solidarity and commitment to a culture of care that says “never again” to every form of abuse.”

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“The penitential dimension of fasting and prayer will help us as God’s People to come before the Lord and our wounded brothers and sisters as sinners imploring forgiveness and the grace of shame and conversion.”

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“In this way, we can show clearly our calling to be “a sign and instrument of communion with God and of the unity of the entire human race” (Lumen Gentium, 1).  “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it”, said Saint Paul.  By an attitude of prayer and penance, we will become attuned as individuals and as a community to this exhortation, so that we may grow in the gift of compassion, in justice, prevention and reparation.”

In response to the Pope’s call of prayer and fasting the Chaplet of Reparation and Adoration has started to gain a lot of attention lately. This chaplet is a beautiful prayer of adoration that has its origins in the apparitions of Our Lady in Fatima, Portugal.

“The Fatima children; Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta, said three apparitions of the Angel of Peace occurred in 1916 prior to apparitions of Our Lady which took place six times between May 13 and Oct. 13, 1917, at Cova da Iria. During the apparitions of the Angel of Peace, the children said they saw a transparent figure in the form of a young man, whiter than snow and of great beauty. He appeared over the trees and said, ‘Do not be afraid! I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me.’ Then the Angel knelt and prayed, “My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love You. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love You” three times.” [EWTN, Fatima 100th Anniversary]

I was introduced to the chaplet last year and reminded of it recently by my confessor who is encouraging the chaplet among his congregation, following the example of Pope Francis’s exhortation for all the faithful to be united in prayer and reparations as one unified body of believers.

“The prayers were originally prayed as a chaplet on rosary beads by many religious orders in Fatima. Father Christopher Roux, pastor and rector of St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte, brought this “Angel Prayer” back from one of his annual pilgrimages to Fatima at the request of the Irish Dominican Sisters of the Rosary for the approval of Bishop Peter Jugis.

Bishop Jugis desired to encourage Eucharistic Adoration, so he granted his imprimatur for the chaplet on Dec. 8, 2004, during the Year of the Eucharist. He is the only bishop in the world to have granted an imprimatur for the prayers of the Angel of Peace. [Catholic News Herald, 10 May 2017]”

The Te Deum Foundation offers prayer cards of this chaplet in nine languages: English, Italian, Russian, French, Polish, Spanish (Castilian), German, Portuguese, Spanish (Latino) and Hungarian.

The Chaplet of Adoration and Reparation is truly a timely prayer and one that should practiced and promoted nationwide.

[Republished in full below with permission from Catholic News and Herald]

Begin with:

Making the Sign of the Cross

(Kiss the Crucifix.)

Apostle’s Creed

(on the first bead and next three small beads:)

For the increase of Faith, Hope, and

Charity and the intentions of the Holy Father

1 Our Father / 3 Hail Marys / 1 Glory Be

 

(on the large bead before each decade:)

Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

I adore you profoundly, and I

offer You the Most Precious Body, Blood,

Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ,

present in all the tabernacles of the

world, in reparation for the outrages,

sacrileges, and indifference by which

He is offended, and by the infinite

merits of His Most Sacred Heart and

through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,

I beg the conversion of poor sinners.

 

(on the ten small beads of each decade:)

My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You!

I ask pardon for those who do not believe,

do not adore, do not hope and do not love You.

(following the ten small beads of each decade:)

1 Glory Be

(and)

“O Most Holy Trinity, I adore You!

My God, My God, I love You in the most

Blessed Sacrament.”

 

(end Chaplet with Hail Holy Queen Prayer:)

Hail Holy Queen

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy!

Our Life, our sweetness, and our Hope!

To Thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve.

To Thee do we send up our sighs, mourning,

and weeping in this valley of tears.

Turn then, most gracious advocate,

thine eyes of mercy toward us;

and after this our exile show unto us the

blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

Pray for us O Holy Mother of God

That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen

(Make the sign of the Cross)

In 1916, the Angel of Peace appeared in Fatima, Portugal,

to three shepherd children, Francisco, Jacinta, and Lucia

teaching them the prayers that became the foundation

for this Chaplet of Adoration and Reparation.